Generally speaking, the most effective and the least expensive means and method for manufacturing and dosing medications is in a solid pill form. To those of ordinary skill in the art, the term “pill” commonly refers to pharmacological oral doses of active ingredient(s) in solid form. Unfortunately, there are several potential problems associated with the administration of this particular medium of medication. Problems include patients with strong gag reflexes or impaired swallowing ability due to various medical conditions, swallowing disorders associated with aging, impaired mental status, altered levels of consciousness, fear of choking mediated reactions, and a general difficulty in swallowing pills as a whole. As a more specific example, any pills must of necessity be crushed if the individual must use a so-called PED, or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube. In addition, many healthy people have trouble swallowing pills such as vitamins, particularly multivitamins and the like frequently having a relatively large diameter. In fact, the ability to swallow large solid masses of anything is principally a learned reaction which does not conform well with an untrained body's natural reflexes.
Traditional means of pill crushing has involved the use of a mortar and pestle. Similarly, nurses and other medication dispensing personnel frequently resort to the use of hammers or mallets used in combination with bowl-like containers. Typically, the striking head of a hammer is positioned at a right angle with respect to the handle, and it is brought downwardly following a generally arcuate path into contact with the top surface of the item to be broken into pieces or crushed.
There are several disadvantages to both the mortar and pestle and hammer techniques of crushing pills. One disadvantage is that both techniques require a significant amount of manual force from the user to achieve the desired pill crushing effect. In particular, the conventional hammer is designed to provide a maximum amount of striking force, much more than is required to split and then crush a typical pill or tablet to be ingested. In addition, unless the user has practiced using a hammer or mallet, or has unusually good hand eye coordination, he or she will likely have surprisingly poor aim and control of the hammer, particularly where attempting to hit a small pill or tablet.
Another disadvantage of both prior techniques is that the mortar and pestle, or hammer and bowl-like container must be thoroughly cleaned and dried after each use to prevent subsequent pills pulverized by the mortar and pestle, or hammer and bowl, from being contaminated by residue from the previous medications with which it was used. Additionally, both techniques are susceptible to having remnants of the medication fly out of the mortar or bowl-like container which can lead to improper dosing and can potentially result in serious injury. Also, the hammer technique in particular creates loud noises which often irritate the user, or nearby persons, pets or animals.
In addition to the mortar and pestle, and hammer methods, various medication, tablet, and/or pill cutting, pulverizing, or crushing devices are known and available for purchase. Known pill or tablet crushing devices generally include a first means for supporting or holding a pill or tablet to be crushed, and another means such as a lever for pressing or exerting a force on one side of the pill or tablet great enough to crush and then pulverize it. Most of such known devices are relatively expensive, costing up to $100 or more, and as a result are not practical for home use or purchase by the average consumer. Further, some devices do not crush or pulverize the pill material into sufficiently small or fine particles. For example, where a feeding tube has been inserted directly into the stomach, the pill material must be passed through the feeding tube. Thus, the particles must be fine enough so they do not clog the feeding tube, which is very inconvenient and uncomfortable for the patient since the feeding tube must be removed or otherwise replaced or cleaned prior to continued use. A drawback of some other pill crushing devices is that the user's view of the tablet or pill as it is being crushed or pulverized is obstructed as it is held between a pair of metal plates or the like as they are brought together. Persons having vision problems or at least imperfect vision may also have trouble seeing the crushed tablet or pill material clearly enough to visually discern whether or not it is completely or sufficiently rendered into a powder form. The weight of a hammer is generally too great to allow for any probing of the pill material for uncrushed pieces, and using one's fingers is objectionable as this may contaminate the pill material. There is therefore a need for a tablet or pill crushing or pulverizing system and apparatus that is inexpensive and easy to use, and wherein the user can see the pill or tablet as it is being crushed.